Project Life...

Project Life... No.

1) "Our lives are made of zillion moments... ...and there are so many moments that are... ...telling who we are and what we're about... ...sometimes we are even lucky enough to capture these moments, leaving us with something to remember, something that we can hold on to"
2) "The gift of photography is something... ...that helps me remember... ...and helps me give my children a gift of what I want them to remember"
3) "how do we make sure our efforts aren't wasted as we try to preserve memories? Pictures are meant to be preserved. Life is meant to be remembered... ...how are we going to enjoy these pictures not only today, but for years and generations to come?"

If you can't remember something without photo evidence, then it is not a memory.

"What *I* want them to remember"... what SHE wants her kids AND FUTURE GENERATIONS to remember...
Note that.
In fact she is editing her life, and the life of her children, husband, relatives, everyone around her, to manipulate the future generations starting with her children, so that they will have the memories of her she wants them to have...

Don't get me wrong, this lady has a great business idea and I wish her the best. It's really a brilliant idea; to make pre-composed scrapbook pages, where the customers just put their stuff in plastic pockets and are done. "How to create good looking scrapbooks without needing to care about the hard work of actually creating the pages, quick and easy!" It's like fast food!
And her selling pitch is great too. Use your time to create the memories, don't waste your time to scrapbook from scratch. Let someone else do that for you.

But - no. This is not for me.
I'd rather fill my bookshelves with meters of books about someone else than me.

August 30th
Ok, so I am jealous. OK?! I admit it.

I'm jealous of women who have children. I don't have any. I'm 43 and my husband can't, and I weigh too much for the Swedish health care to give me one. I get really, really sad and envious and jealous and bitter every time I see photos of other women with their children... I wanted to have at least seven. I have none.

I'm jealous of women who have a nice, big house and yard. I live in a horrible apartment that's too worn out to ever get really clean, and I can't afford to fix it. I'm so jealous of women who have hardwood floors and parquets, and I look at my disgusting plastic carpet that's of color dirt - either grey dirt or beige dirt... and it's old and worn and full of holes and the seams are ripping... and I can't afford to change it.

I'm jealous of women who have money. Money to buy all these f-ing kits and papers and crap to make all the nice and pretty scrapbooks filled with photos of their children and house and vacations and all the stuff they do.
And I'm jealous of women who have credit cards. I don't have any, so I won't be able to buy stuff from for example Amazon.com, so even if I had money to buy something, I can't, because it's being sold in places I can't shop from.

I'm also jealous of women who don't have panic anxiety, social phobia, fibromyalgia, Asperger's and ADD, so that they can go out there and do stuff and take photos and put them in an album and take photos of the album and put it on the Internet so other women pin these photos and spread the "memories"... memories I won't ever have.

Nevertheless... this project is not for me, because I want to create my own scrapbook pages, and I don't want to control people's memories. And that part still sucks, how ever jealous I am.

First repaint and some criticism

First try

I chose one I think was ugly. She has the "generation girl" face mold with the weird tilted, thin eyes make-up and she had a really weird hairdo.

I hate doing eye make-up... I suppose the more I do, the better I get... and when I practice in 1:6 scale, doing my own make-up won't be a problem :-D (At least I hope so...)
The right eye and eyebrow are always better...

I also had some problems with her mouth.

I need to figure out how to keep the acrylics fluid for longer time... I suppose I need to get some "slow dry liquid" or "extender" for acrylics. (And better acrylics than the cheap Chinese crap. It kept flaking. I'm pretty sure I can get a better results with better quality acrylics.)

Then I need to add some gloss to her eyes and mouth. I wonder if I can use clear nail polish...

Other things: I need better light, better glasses and better brushes.
I need to practice using a thin brush.
I need to sand her body. It's way too shiny.
And I need a better camera...  *sigh*

I am not at all happy about this new bellybutton body mold. Her body is too long to her legs. Her breasts are weird. The worst part is nevertheless the sway back. I have always found that ugly, and it's also unhealthy. The condition is called "lordosis", saddle-back.

... but I suppose...

"The seductive female gesture
in which the Lumbar Lordosis is exaggerated to accentuate the buttocks,
and the head is turned invitingly back toward the viewer,
has been called the “Lordosis Pose”."

Edith La Sylphe

invented the “Sylphide”corset, making the very unhealthy 'snake silhouette' popular. c.1900

Nevertheless, I feel like cutting her in half and reattaching the body parts, but so that the side seam gets straight - with a good, healthy posture.
And some 20 pounds more wouldn't do her any harm... I want to add her about half an inch more on waist and give her bigger, more natural breasts that hang lower on her chest. And more muscles on arms.

Now I have barbie-dolls...

I bought 15 dolls from Tradera (eBay) to have material when learning to customize fashion dolls. They cost me about 3 dollars a doll. I'm going to keep three of these as they are, and give one ("12 dancing princesses Genevieve - the one in red dress - she has boxes for batteries in her tighst and her dress "pins and lights up") to my niece, but the rest is going to get an extreme make-over :-D

Most of these dolls are from 21st century, and I'm sad to say that the quality of the new dolls is awful. I can understand why today's small girls won't have the same relationship to their dolls my generation has with ours. In this lot is two dolls with bending arms and legs, and those are dingling quite loose in the joints. Nevertheless, it feels awful to start "mauling" these dolls... But - I want to learn how to customize these dolls.

Galaxy's Empress by Joe Burland (rjbour)

Anu by Renee Coughlan (One And Only Dolls)

Carrie Lavender's (Lavender Green Oaks) Stix

Dame Flora Robson as the dowager empress Tzu Hsi in 55 Days at Peking by Juan Albuerne

Repainted Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra Barbie by Noel Cruz

I mean... look at her! SHE'S A BARBIE!!! 

I wish one day I'll be even half as good as this... :-)

Well... I just need to dare to start playing with my new dolls :-D

Repainted Barbie by Sandra

Interesting color theory

Now, the purple one is probably the most disgusting collection of colors I've ever seen... I like the dark, musty purples and reds that peek from the holes, and turquoise and green, but that... dishwater lavender old rose dusty yuk that makes the base of it... that's the ugliest color in the world.
But - the aqua one is the contrast image of the purple. And that one I like very much...

I wonder if the opposite of the most hated color is one's favorite color, or at least a color one likes very much? If so, it's really interesting, because our eyes work so that after seeing too much of a color, one automatically tries to balance it out by creating the opposite color... so if I'm looking at turquoise and aqua things, I will be seeing the ugly purples...

What Ket Did?

Three more entries to the Gudrun Sjöden recycle contest

An inspirational bulletin board poster

a pile of packages

and a collage

Now, I would have liked to do some jewelry, a bridal crown and a mobile too... and some other things. But - as usually, I always leave things to the last minute. Today is the last day, and I don't know if there's a time limit... It's already 7 PM.

Paper doll

This is my first (and perhaps the only) entry to Gudrun Sjöden contest... It's a book doll - the skirt is a book with inspirational quotes and such. It's made of Gudrun's catalogs and an old telephone book. She's a bit too thin, but - I like her :-) My husband wanted to name her "Ms Directory Assistance" - because she's made of a phone book.

I would very much like to win 10.000 kronas present card and buy Gudrun's clothes, even though most of them are too small for me. *sigh*

I am also rather excited and nervous about a health test I'm going to take tomorrow... It's quite an interesting thing... it's based on an old Chinese medicine, and how the Chinese doctors were able to determine a person's health by heartbeat only... now some Ukrainian doctor has developed a computer program that does it for you... I'm rather eager to find out what it tells about me... and if the test itself is free, but you have to pay several thousands to get the results :-D

Make something 365

Make Something 365 & get UNSTUCK

I actually started a Peacock-a-day blog several years ago...I think I managed a week or so :-D
Besides, I would have started posting someone else's images, and that would not have been... purposeful, I suppose. What ever.

I would like to have 365 hairdos...
Or 365 pin-ups - like Les Toil girls or Hilda

Some of the participating blogs I like:

Librarian's Daughter
365 Days of Me
365 days of craft
I like these ACEOs.  It might be interesting to produce 5 tarot decks...
Recycle Girl
Lori Weitzel's inspiration boards
Hyesu Lee's Dear Anne - to write a letter every day to a dear friend... wow.
Puppet-a-day is a nice idea too... perhaps I'd finally got my hand puppet theater done! .-D
A Granny A Day - she's crocheting granny squares... but portraying a grandmother every day might be a very interesting project too... or a Crone-A-Day...
Life in a Bell Jar
Play by Play - a year of "elf on the shelf" :-D (I think of Juanita... She would be perfect for something like this .-D)
365 days and one knight
365 days of Gnome
Stormtroopers 365

365 Pinterest is also interesting, even though I don't think that's part of the 365 challenge.


It might be fun to make a card a day or scrapbook layout... Or springer spaniels. Or paisley. Masks would be fun too... And trees.
I wonder if I could find 365 make-up tutorials to try... and become really good at applying my own make-up :-D
I could make a book cover every day.
I could make a Polyvore set every day.
I could have Sabbath every day, where I make holiday related stuff 1 1/2 month for each of the 8 Pagan sabbaths...
Or finally making my peacock crazy quilt... a square a week, stitch a day?
Corset a day? Corset a week would perhaps be a better goal :-D
Fox a day?
Suffragette-a-day? Re-creating suffragette memorabilia, and on busy days suffragette jewelry ;-)
What about a book a day or an album a day?
Or colors...
And calligraphy - or inspiration cards - or letter S?
Pagan writing prompts :-D
Or perhaps learning to bake properly... baking challenge 365. I wonder who'd eat everything I bake...
I'd like making portraits... not photos, but paintings or drawings. Or perhaps painting animals. Perhaps odd animals. Like aardvarks and such. :-D My husband would love me even more if I did that :-D
Altered fashion doll a day?
Steampunk projects? League of extraordinary gentlemen and -women?
Designing a new t-shirt for my Zazzle shop?

365 being silly would be nice :-D
Or "scare yourself every day"
What about Judy Chicago's Dinner Party? A vulva a day?

Oh, dear...

There's a competition going on where you need to make something of old catalogues... and I'm full of ideas...

I want to make a paper doll, preferably a ball-jointed doll
I want to make paper basket
I want to make a paper flower wreath
I want to make a doll house
I want to make an art paper doll
I want to make a bridal crown
I want to make a paper dress
I want to make bowls
I want to make frames
I want to make cards and scrapbook, and masks and art and games and accessories; bags, hats and jewelry
I want to make boxes
I want to make paper quilts
I want to make stars and garlands and ornaments
I want to make party decorations
I want to make wrapping papers and bows and packages
I want to make...

The ideas just keep popping up and one more elaborate than the other...

It's kind of lovely, but right now I'm just brainstorming, and I'd need to MAKE SOMETHING :-D


Ketutar at Pinterest; Paper crafts

Happens to the best of us...

CraftFail - some consolation and comfort :-) When the fail happens, know, you're not alone :-)

Random Tutorial Generator

Yeah... exactly that. You push a button (yes... it's a button :-D) and a new tab opens up showing you a random DIY craft tutorial. As if you didn't already have enough on your to do list...

Craft Gawker

http://craftgawker.com/

If you just happen to have nothing to do and want of ideas... ROTFLMAO!!!

Valentine's day is coming...

AND I HATE THE SMART-ASS HOMOPHONES!!! I am going to scream if I ever see another one!

I admit, it was funny - THE FIRST TIME. Like, back at 80's when I first heard it. It's not funny anymore. It's not cute, it's not clever, it's not original... Please, don't do it.

I mean, what's wrong with saying "I love you!" It doesn't get old, ever.

P.S. I also hate the "you rock" "I love the way you roll", "I'm stuck to you" etc. Don't do that either. Please.

A mirror to my art

Competition for needleworkers. Everyone's invited to join :-)

"The objective is to create a stitched cover for a handheld mirror of a size that would fit into a purse or handbag."

Unbroken thread speaks about this too

So September has a little project to share :-)

Our World, Our Art

Last yea, 2011, was the last year of OWOH - One World, One Heart. This year the event will be OWOA - Our World, Our Art. All who create anything with their hands, be it traditional art or crafts, is invited to join this world wide celebration of arts and artisans. :-)

Yes, it's called "art", but crafts are included to the idea, and you don't need to consider yourself Fine Artist, or anything, just enjoy creating, joining God's Creation by adding some final touches... Anyway, read everything from the info page. :-)

Wasting time in Pinterest...

Tutorial from Patricia Rose

She has more of them. I love generous people :-)

I also love her dolls :-D

Well, everyone knows one can waste hours on Pinterest. Anyway, here's my pinboard on dolls and other such things :-) Let's hope it can work as inspiration board and result in some dolls of my own, and not just be the outlet of creativity in itself...

More about dolls

Fantasy dolls by Wendy Froud

Moomin house from Tampere Moomin exhibition

I love doll's houses too... I would really want to make something like Queen Mary's doll house.

I really like puppets and such

I stumbled over K Pawz... (blog, site)

She's really amazing with these things! As far as I understand she makes the noses and such herself of polymer clay, the body of soft sculpting, and then she airbrushes the colors and such to make these amazing, wonderful plushies :-)

She also makes ball jointed dolls, which is something I really want to try...

This is Cameo by Marmite Sue

I like the lace part and lacing, I like that she gave her heeled feet...

It reminds me of that everything is possible.

I also like Antique Lilac doll clothes...
I was introduced to BJDs by Marina, like so many others. I love her dolls, but more than that I love her details, accessories, props, paintings, clothes... stuff. She's an incredible artisan. :-)
(I also like Christine Alvarado's dolls)

I would like to make dolls that are a little less airy and fairy and Japanese, and more real, robust, "normal" people. (I'm not the only one...)

I mean, I'm a Scandinavian, and I have long legs, narrow hips, wide shoulders and big breasts. There are no dolls like that. They are all more or less pear-shaped, some even ridiculously so, having tiny cherries as breasts tucked right under chin... I know it has to do with balance and that it's easier for a bottom-heavy doll to stand, than to the classic Barbie shape doll, but I would so much like to have my body shape associated with something beautiful, and not just...

Well... here's a Putin doll being made :-D Wonderful! I also like the construction.

P.S. How to make glass-like eyes of polymer clay

New year...

I'm very tired, most of the time, and in pain quite a lot. I don't have much energy to do anything but to take the dog for a walk every day. I hope exercise will make me feel better and give me more energy, and it is wonderful to walk in the forest.
I'm sorry for the absence.

Too late, but still cute...

There was an oil spill somewhere about New Zealand, and the local blue penguins were suffering - so a local yarn shop decided to start a campaign of knitting sweaters for the penguins, to keep them from cleaning themselves and eating the oil. That stuff is horrible... a lot of oil drenched birds will die of eating the raw oil.Anyway, the lovely knitters all over the world quickly knitted enough and more sweaters to save all the penguins and they are now happily back home. :-)

Yule Countdown Calendar

Drops is having a countdown knit calendar this year again. Don't forget to visit the "Christmas workshop". Really nice things there, and quickies, if you still have some presents undone ;-)